United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 2-1 League One win away to Oldham, Abbott delighted to get all three points:
JP
You must be delighted to have got the win here, but boy they made it a bit nervy at the end?
GA
We are just delighted to get the win, we are absolutely delighted to get that win. It was never going to be easy was it, they are fighting for their lives and again they have got some big powerful physical players and they used that to their advantage second-half. But, I think first-half we played some really, really good football, that is as good as we have played, some of the football we played in the first-half was absolutely terrific.
But, it was difficult the way they set up second-half and we couldn’t get hold of the ball, the pitch wasn’t brilliant and they just bombed it forward and they asked the question of our back four and our goalkeeper. Probably one of the best decisions I made was to stick with Mark Gillespie after his little blip, but that is all it has been because he was outstanding again when we needed him today. I think he owes a great deal of credit from our fans and our other players and our staff for his saves. Because, in difficult circumstances after the little situation he had, he is 21 years old and great credit to him.
JP
One on one with (Kirk) Millar, 80 minutes, we thought goal, he saved, one on one with (Reuben) Reid, 88 minutes, he saved, both of them just looked like goals. How on earth does he do things like that?
GA
Well, we think he is a good goalkeeper so he has probably done his credentials a power of good today. But, it was all huff and puff stuff, if we had been out-footballed we would be stood here really disappointed but we shouldn’t be, we should be proud of a good team performance and we have had to dig in and battle, and we have done that.
At times during my five years or whatever it is in charge we might have gone down, but again the group of players we have got, they fight for their lives. I thought there were some big, big performances out there today in terms of the whole package. Liam Noble with and without the ball, which is what we are talking about, both sides of the game. We showed that we have got a lot of spirit and I think we have shown that over the past few weeks to be honest with you.
JP
I used your thoughts this morning on our breakfast show, I used the bit that you said about doing stuff off the ball, we are good on it, let’s work on what we can do off it and they clearly applied that today?
GA
Yeah, I mean if we are going to be successful going forward we have to be better than we have been in terms of defending our goal. But, we haven’t made life easy to score in recent weeks and that makes me as pleased, because if you are going to go forward and progress and get better then you have got to be better without the ball.
Because, it is 50% of the game in average that you don’t have it, so we can’t concede when we haven’t got it. But, you know, we are getting there, we use some young players and some players from all different areas and whatever, but they have all pulled together over the last few weeks and got us some results, and I think that is a big one for us today.
JP
Now that you have won it and you can calm down a bit are you able to be actually a little bit impressed with how well Oldham responded in that second-half after how poor they had been in the first?
GA
I don’t really care too much for Oldham, today it is our day, it was Carlisle, I am about Carlisle United, Lee (Johnson) has got his own problems good and bad with Oldham. If you are asking my opinion about will they survive, yes I think they will. If you say should they have had a reaction second-half, if I had been their manager and didn’t get a reaction I would have been a bit upset.
They have got some big players there, off the cup run they have been able to go out and get some decent quality, so you would expect no different. But, I am more concerned that our players stood to the test of when they were on top and played some great football first-half.
JP
Two of your own players had their own goal of the season competition in the first 45 minutes?
GA
Yeah, I thought Jordan Mustoe’s was a great goal the way he has took it, because I am thinking just clip it into the area, and he has seen something that sometimes you don’t see it, it is easier to see it from the stands. But, he has seen it early and it was a great finish. Liam Noble, that is what he is all about isn’t it, we think a lot of Liam and we are trying to improve his all-round game. But, I thought he was again terrific in all his play today. Jordan is getting better and better, I don’t think he needed to make the challenge for the penalty but that is what he is here for, to learn the good and bad.
JP
More on Noble, he was beginning to become more of a ratting midfielder before his spell out of the team, but now he has come back it is more of what we were seeing, he is getting more involved in the creative stuff and he looks comfortable?
GA
I disagree with you to be honest because I think he was always comfortable with the ball, it is the other side of the game that we want him to improve. We want him to be the rat, we want him to be dogged, we want him to chase things down, we want him to be all-action. Actual ability he is the most comfortable footballing player and one of the most comfortable football players we have got.
It is the other side that when things don’t go our way and we haven’t got the ball that we sometimes lose him and he goes chasing lost causes and loses his discipline. But, we are going to try to get him better at all that and he appreciates the parts of his game that he needs to work on. But, I thought in the last couple of games when you have got a heart as big as his it always gives you a fighting chance. That I think we will all agree on is a massive part of his game.
JP
Superb, in terms of the run you have been on, three draws from strong performances, in particular on Bank Holiday Monday, to get one of those into a win must have been exactly what the doctor ordered for you?
GA
Yeah, I mean we have been trying to make ourselves hard to beat and we haven’t had an easy run have we. Oldham at home is a tough, tough place to come, Sheffield United away from home is tough, Shrewsbury went and beat somebody 3-0 after we got a draw against them. So, they are good performances and good results. We want to end the season as powerfully as we possibly can, we want to give the fans, I thought the fans again, outstanding again.
They are carrying us over the line as well, they are our extra man and there was probably 600 or 700 again that have made that journey when they maybe think there is not the play-offs to play for, but there is team to support. They are fantastic supporters for us and it is great when we get the reaction we do and the reception we get at the end of the games, it fills me with a lot of joy because we do have some tough times stood in this position as managers of football clubs.
It is not always easy and it is certainly not as easy as a lot of people give it credit for. We have had a tough season this year but probably that appreciation that we have been shown today makes it all worthwhile.
JP
And you needed a win anyway just to justify your performances, ahead of a match with Doncaster though and then with Preston next Saturday, had you been upset today you could have been back ins a sticky position, so this has really been key?
GA
But, we weren’t upset today, so we have made those games to sort of look forward to now rather than games to fear.
JP
What is the situation with Frank Simek, out today, not much of the season left, what are his chances of being back?
GA
Well, he has nicked his thigh muscle, but probably on today’s performance Brad Potts has done himself no harm. He has shown he can play at right-back and we always thought he can, he has got all the tools to do that. We think he has got the tools to play in midfield but who knows where Brad will end up, but as long as he plays as determined and as powerfully as that then he has a fighting chance, but I thought he was terrific.
JP
Cramp can be agony but I have never seen a player in quite as much pain as he was at the end there?
GA
Obviously, the lad is not fit, we will have to do a bit of work on the training ground with him. But, I do think he put in a shift to be fair and he deserved to eke a little bit of cramp.
JP
And speaking of shifts, we have talked about a number of players who had a good game today, but I thought the shift from Andy Welsh today, a player who has been on the fringes for a long time this season, I thought his effort was inspiring?
GA
Yeah, he is a very honest lad Andy and we just couldn’t get him on the ball enough second-half, that is why we sacrificed him. But, he certainly gives us balance and he gives us an amount of honesty. He enjoys playing, he wants to play, he keeps knocking on my door to play. He has done alright for us today.
JP
And I will just say finally, because fans always seem to know best, we supporters and media and everyone does know best, but Mathieu Manset, not quite what we have seen from him was it and maybe that is just a reminder to people why you are the boss?
GA
Well, there you are. We think we know what we are doing, we do know what we are doing and we need a bit of respect and a backing with all that. But, listen, that is what football is all about, it is about opinions, but we work with people day in and day out and we think we know when and where and how and who and who not. I think probably today and other instances during the season has proved that if we can be left to get on with it we will be OK.